Why Alcohol Addiction Is Not an Incurable Disease

The accepted perspective of alcohol dependency is that it is a permanent “disease” that must be continually suffered through. In the mid-20th century, the American Medical Association started embracing the view of alcohol addiction as an illness, formally declaring it to be a disease a decade later. By the turn of the century, the AMA officially classified alcohol dependency as a physical and psychological “disease.”

Consequences of Viewing Alcohol Addiction as a Disease

This classification of alcohol addiction as a “disease” has brought about a few positive changes—despite the major setbacks it has caused in the addiction treatment arena. Possibly, the most salient advantage is that insurance companies now have grounds to provide funding for detoxification and rehabilitation to those with alcohol dependency problems. Additionally, the disease paradigm has helped eliminate the all-too-prevalent stigma that addiction is a “moral flaw,” removing the shame that many alcohol dependent people felt around seeking treatment.

However, by maintaining the myth of alcohol dependency as an untreatable illness, this perspective also causes the alcohol dependent individual to lose hope for a cure. In effect, numerous 12-step organizations are based on the belief that dependent individuals are “helpless” over their alcohol addiction. Ultimately, this view disempowers treatment centers from uncovering root causes for addiction, and prevents the individual from seeking true healing. While genetics may play a minor part in certain individuals’ alcohol addictions, its role by no means explains a single person’s addiction in full—let alone an entire population’s.

Ending the Myth of Dependency as a Disease

To date, there has been no conclusive report that has establishes that alcohol addiction is really a “disease” as the AMA has claimed. In fact, the DSM-IV, the respected manual for psychological diagnoses, classifies alcohol dependency as a disease based mainly on the existence of tolerance, the presence of withdrawal and the experience of cravings to drink. Tolerance is the body’s normal adjustment to alcohol’s toxicity—a phenomenon triggered in everyone who consumes alcohol. Withdrawal, similarly, creates the desire to drink as the body encounters chemical imbalances predictably caused by continued alcohol use.

The DSM-IV’s secondary stated reason—the wish to drink—supposes there is no fundamental rationale for alcohol use. Persons who have found real relief in alcohol recovery understand differently—that alcohol provides a temporary coping mechanism for profound chemical and psychological root causes. Once these reasons for alcohol addiction have been explored, uncovered and properly treated by mental health professionals or physicians, alcohol dependent individuals can finally eradicate the desire for intoxication.

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